Posts that inspiring an elegant life

My Visit to Williams Sonoma

/2 Comments/in , /by


After my husband and I visited Restoration Hardware we decided to walk down to Williams Sonoma. When we walked in we saw their wonderful new dinnerware collection called The Japanese Table and oh is it pretty!


My husband even liked it!! I wish I had taken pictures but I was so busy looking at everything. 








This was our favorite.
Garden Dinner Plates

We did however end up purchasing the placemats. 

Cherry Blossom Place Mats

The next beautiful set I saw was the Citrus Dinnerware Collection.






This was so pretty in person.











Smoke Goblets


I wish I had taken pictures of these. They are much prettier in person.




Glass Candlestick Holders






This collection was really pretty in person also.






Kate Spade New York Collection








It would be great to organize your kitchen with…





Blue and White Ceramic Cachepot





And last but certainly not least this new floral scent called White Gardenia. I did not get a chance to smell it but I will be going back soon. 








Well, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you have a moment to visit your Williams Sonoma I hope that you will share your finds as well!




(photos via  Mrs. Shockley)

Tilly’s Tea Room ~ A New Tea Room Find

/in , /by

Okay, so for those who know me they know that I love a good tea room. I have been to about two so far. My first one was the Ayres Tea Room, see here.  The second was called the Cakebake Shop, see here.

Now, when my husband and I went shopping for dinner tables this past weekend we ended up finding another one!  I was really excited. I have never heard of it.

Tilly’s Tea Room

Here is a little bit about the owner:
Tilly’s opened in February 2015 and brings the traditional English tearoom to suburban Fishers with a modern-day spin. Owner Sharon Moore, originally from Newcastle, England, came to the states 12 years ago as a television producer for Champ Car. Putting the brakes on her career after having her children Max and Tilly, the tearoom’s namesake, and no longer wanting to travel for work, Moore created a tea room that combines her English sensibilities and enjoyment of good food in a child friendly atmosphere.
Tilly’s uses traditional english recipes to serve a menu consisting of soups, salads, sandwiches and panini’s as well as a Traditional English Afternoon Tea. Home made fruit scones are served with strawberry jam or lemon curd and real Devonshire Clotted Cream. Tea’s are imported from England and feature favourites like Ginger Peach,  Blueberry Elderflower and Chocolate Superberry. 
After spending two years coming up with the styles and ideas for the tea room. Tilly’s features a play room for children and hosts special events such as birthday parties, bridal and baby showers and open house events

Love the table!

A great space for a bridal shower.

Okay, love the silver.
My husband actually found this spot and has already said that he will take me to lunch there soon. I am really excited! I hope you enjoyed this post and for those of you who actually live in my city I hope that you will go and take a look at it soon. 
(photos via Mrs. Shockley,info about the owner from Tilly.com)

Their website is here.

Dress for Success ~ Volunteering as a Personal Shopper

/2 Comments/in , /by

This past week was my orientation to volunteer to be a personal shopper for Dress for Success. Dress for Success is a non-profit organization that empowers women to get employment and keep it.

The program provides women with interview attire and other pieces of casual clothing for their work environment. There is also a career development services program that promotes employment retention and career advancement.

After our meeting we got a tour of the boutique and I was impressed….

This is inside the office. There is a piano that has hand craved artwork on it. The office manager said that sometimes women come and “ticker” on it. I know I will end up doing that.
This is artwork done by one of our local artist. It was presented during one of their fashion shows. 
This is inside the boutique. The clients will get everything. They get jewelry, hosiery, new bras, shoes and a bag!
I loved seeing this! This was done by California Closets. I look forward to serving women in my community as their personal shopper and I look forward to putting together some great looks!
I believe serving is elegant….


(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

A Friend’s Winter Wedding

/2 Comments/in , /by

Earlier this month some good friends of ours shared their beautiful wedding with us. It was at the Community Life Center here in our city and it was gorgeous! I was so glad that we got to share this wonderful event with them and see this beautiful venue.

There were beautiful chandeliers everywhere….
During cocktail hour my husband and I had wine, a few snacks and just looked around.
There were about 3 or 4 of these gorgeous chandeliers. I could not stop staring and kept taking pictures of them!
There was a very pretty fountain in the center of the venue….
After drinks, dinner and dancing my husband and I were getting ready to head out when we were told about this gorgeous chandelier on the 3rd floor…
It was truly amazing. I could have stayed there all night looking at it. We really enjoyed ourselves and our friends. It was a great way to begin the holiday season.




(all photos via Mrs. Shockley)

The Nutcracker Ballet ~ Our Second Visit

/in , /by


My daughter and I are trying to make going to the ballet to see The Nutcracker a yearly tradition. Last year was our first year and we really enjoyed it (read about it here).

This year the show was in a different location. It was at the Murat Theater which was much bigger than the Scottish Rite Cathedral last year.


This was a great location! They sold snacks which is wonderful when you have an 11-year-old. So we grabbed some drinks and our popcorn and went to our seats.


All the halls were long and huge!

This is how close we were to the stage. If the ballet is here next year then I am going to get us balcony seats! My daughter really wanted to see the orchestra.


While were in line my daughter and I started talking to some of the other guests and we ended up meeting a french woman! I was really excited! After the show was over we hunted her down because we both wanted to talk with her. 


We ended up finding her and I asked her questions about french living and where to visit in France. She told me everything. How it was wonderful to live in France and which parts to stay away from. She also told me about a program here in our city for high school students.


Apparently, there is a program that let’s high school students stay in France with a host family for 6 weeks! I will definitely be looking into that program for my daughter. 


I also checked the schedule and Swan Lake will be there in June. I will be getting tickets to that! I really enjoy the ballet and want to continue to go to shows with my daughter. 

Seek the arts……..

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)

Rituals ~ Do you have any?

/2 Comments/in , /by


I was inspired to write this post after reading Shannon Ables blog post called Why Not…Establish Weekend Rituals?   


Are you a routine kind of person? Do you have rituals? I know I do and I get easily frustrated when someone tries to break it. I am learning that things happen and that sometimes you can’t control everything. It is during those moments that you learn to “go with the flow”.



























photo credit Alex Papachristidis Instagram account


I have some rituals that I do every day or every weekend and I make sure that I enjoy my weekly rituals.

1) During the week I stop by my favorite restaurant called Panera and pick up their pumpkin muffie for breakfast.


And oh my goodness is it soft and delicious!


2) I always make sure that the current books that I am reading are packed in my bags. 


Read my blog post here about this book.

I recently heard about this book from another author. 
So far it has been wonderful! I downloaded it to my Kindle. 




3) I have a cup of hot water, lemon, and honey along with my fruit fusion water every morning. See my blog post here about that.
My cup and china at home.

4) I cook our favorite meal which is roasted chicken about twice a week. We do love it!
Our meal at home.

5) I love to watch certain Youtube channels every morning while exercising. One channel I love to watch and follow is Sharon Santoni. I love this recent video she posted about the French cheeseboard. It was absolutely wonderful and if you watch it below pay attention to the beautiful decor of the home. The french live so beautifully to me….

6) Last and certainly not least is my daily devotionals. Yes, I am a Christian. Sorry I know that is not popular but I should be free to say that. I love to read my bible and other devotionals. My faith is very important and it keeps me in order. Trust me, I would not be searching so diligently for the “elegance” that I love so much without God. 
















photo credit Nicolas Fairford Instagram account

I hope you enjoyed this post and share some of your rituals. It is always interesting to see how other women live. 






Date Night ~ Autumn in Italy Cooking Class

/in , /by

My husband and I are trying to incorporate different activities into our lives. The children are growing up and we are now in a time where we really don’t need a sitter anymore.

So we recently decided to take a cooking class at Sur La Table. We have one location here in our city and we booked a date night called “Autumn in Italy”. It was wonderful I tell you!

We had such a good time!!!

We showed up for our class at 6:30 and they had the room ready to go. There were stations for each couple and you shared a station with another couple.
Both couples share the tasks. So we put on our aprons, washed our hands and started having fun!

Our station

The first thing that we made was prosciutto wrapped dates stuffed with gorgonzola. It was delish and very simple. We opened the dates down the middle and stuffed them with gorgonzola cheese crumbs. After that we wrapped them in strips of proscuitto. Put them on cocktail toothpicks and placed them in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 425 degrees. The dates were sweet and the proscuitto gave that perfect amount of salt taste. Wonderful….
The next thing that we made was the Tuscan herb rub for our chicken breast.
First we salted our chicken and put finely chopped rosemary leaves, parsley, olive oil and toasted fennel seeds. 
The sauce was 3 tbls of unsalted butter, 1 large shallot, 1 large garlic clove minced, 1/2 of Chianti or red wine and 1 cup of low-sodium chicken broth. We mixed that all in a bowl and poured it into a skillet. We browned the chicken then put it in the oven a 425 degrees. 
Very tasty!!!

My husband cutting up the squash for the next dish which was winter squash risotto with walnut gremolato. 
This was my favorite!!!
The ingredients for this was:
So wonderful! I could not stop eating it!
The last item was dessert and it was called maple budino.
It was so creamy and delicious! Budino is an Italian word for custard or pudding. 
–Recipe for Budino-
-3 cups heavy cream
-1 1/2 cups milk
-1 large egg
-3 egg yolk
-5 tablespoons cornstarch
-1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
-1/1/8 cups brown sugar
-3/4 cup of maple syrup


After all the hard work it was time to enjoy our meal….

I had a wonderful time and we will be doing this again soon!!!

(photos via Mrs. Shockley)